Looking back on some great sporting moments

Wednesday 14 August 2024

The virtuous circle

For twelve days and nights, we were swept up in a whirlwind of emotions… but now it is time to come back to earth and pick up the normal course of our lives once again. This sense of jubilation was inspired not only by the splendor of the setting but also by the extraordinary results of the French Olympic team, which claimed a total of 64 medals. The Games were truly buoyed up by the exploits of the French athletes. It all started with the gold medal won by the French Olympic rugby sevens team and the explosion of joy immediately expressed by its players. It continued with the avalanche of medals that electrified the public who shared their enthusiasm with an intensity and warmth never witnessed before. With the thrills inspired by Amandine Buchard, the excitement of the Franco-French final between Sara Balzer and Manon Apithy Brunet… each day brought its share of new emotions right up until the final Sunday when Elodie Clouvel won silver and the French women’s basketball team fought so heroically in their match against the Americans… All these exploits achieved by the French athletes carried the public on a wave of enthusiasm which, in turn, further encouraged the athletes in a virtuous circle of mutual inspiration. It was this symbiosis between the French results and the public that gave such passion to the Games.

This is what makes French sport so special: the medals were won in a wide array of different disciplines with, in addition, an exceptional set of results in team sports. Other nations, such as the United States or Great Britain, tend to win more medals but their athletes are totally absent from certain major sports such as judo, table tennis, handball and, for the British, team sports in general. Their results are concentrated in a smaller number of disciplines. French athletes are present everywhere, although it must be said that fencing, judo, cycling and swimming account for 50% of the French medals.

A perfect blend

The atmosphere conjured up by Sydney 2000 was extraordinary, and the event left us with an abundance of marvelous memories with all the Olympians and supporters gathered in the harbor in the center of the city for a marvelously joyful celebration of the world’s young people. London 2012 gave us a fantastic fortnight thanks to the wit and humor of the Opening Ceremony and a musical presence that it will be difficult to better. There was also that wonderful atmosphere in the stadiums, particularly in athletics, buoyed up by the tremendous results achieved by the British team. It can be said that Paris 2024 managed to blend the qualities of these two earlier games, hitherto considered the finest in history.

Foreign athletes also contributed to the success of Paris 2024. It takes great feats of prowess to ensure the Games their place in Olympic history. We’re thinking of the world records set in the pole vault at the Stade de France or in the women’s 400m hurdles, which gave a special dimension to the evening athletics events. The exploits recorded in the Nanterre pool cheered on by the supercharged crowd of supporters will go down in swimming legend… and the Bercy Arena was the scene of glory for American gymnastics.

And we should mention the Cuban champion in Greco-Roman wrestling who secured his place in the Olympic Hall of Fame by becoming the first athlete to win five consecutive titles at five consecutive Olympic Games (Beijing, Athens, London, Rio, Tokyo, and Paris).

In this tremendous collective success, we shouldn’t overlook a moment that was not shown on television but which symbolizes Paris 2024 so well: the marathon for all (officially sponsored by Orange). The organizers had the wonderful idea of inviting the general public to run the Olympic marathon just a few hours after the men’s race and before the start of the women’s event, on exactly the same route. Some 40,000 people took part in the 10km version and in the full marathon. Everyone cheered for everyone else. There were no rankings: the elite and amateur runners, the young, the old, the disabled, the able-bodied… all were united in this moment of effort and communality…

And this sums up the revolutionary nature of these Olympic Games Paris 2024 that placed sport and sport lovers at the very heart of the Games and the host city, something no earlier version of the Games had every achieved before. This focus generated a wealth of moments of rare intensity, wild emotions and images for eternity. We “threw the Games wide open” but that’s all in the past…

Now it’s time for the Paralympics to begin!